How much confidence do you have in U.S. regulatory agencies to ensure pesticides are safe for public health when approved for use?

Background

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, evaluating safety data before approving products for use and periodically reviewing registered pesticides to ensure they still meet safety standards. This system has come under intensified public scrutiny in recent months. In February 2026, President Trump signed an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to expand domestic production of glyphosate-based herbicides, framing the widely used weed killer as essential to national security and food supply. Around the same time, the House Agriculture Committee released a draft Farm Bill containing a provision that would create nationwide uniformity in pesticide labeling, effectively preventing states and courts from requiring health warnings beyond those approved by the EPA. Environmental and public health organizations, including the Center for Food Safety and the Environmental Working Group, say these moves could weaken regulatory oversight, while industry groups like CropLife America have praised them as supporting farmers' continued access to EPA-approved tools.

Supporters of the current regulatory framework argue that EPA's science-based risk assessments, combined with periodic registration reviews and active enforcement, provide strong safeguards for public health. The agricultural industry contends that pesticides are essential to maintaining crop yields, keeping food affordable, and feeding a growing population, and that EPA approval should serve as the definitive standard for safety. Critics, however, point to significant gaps. A study published in the journal Environmental Health found that 72 pesticides approved for agricultural use in the United States are banned or being phased out in the European Union, which follows a more precautionary approach that places a heavier burden on manufacturers to prove safety before approval. Research from Brookings has argued that EPA's pesticide office has seen a decline in health-protective actions over the years and has been slow to act on independent scientific evidence of harm. A Pew Research survey found that only 26 percent of respondents believed produce grown with pesticides was safe to eat, while 48 percent considered it unsafe.

The stakes of this debate extend across the food system and public health landscape. Farmworkers and rural communities face the most direct exposure risks, and a study published in BMC Public Health documented widespread disparities in pesticide exposure affecting communities of color and low-income populations. Legislative efforts in at least six states and in Congress to limit pesticide manufacturers' liability could reshape how individuals seek legal recourse for alleged health harms. At the federal level, whether EPA retains broad authority over pesticide safety standards or shares that role with states will shape the regulatory environment for years to come. The outcome affects not only the roughly one billion pounds of pesticides applied annually in U.S. agriculture but also consumer confidence in the safety of the nation's food supply.